Pharmaceutical industry leaders have called for the new government to make wide ranging changes to the NHS and provide significant new funding following the 8 June General Election.

An industry’s manifesto published by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry says that spending on healthcare in the UK is the sixth lowest among the Group of Seven (G7) nations at 9.9% of GDP, and that this should be increased to the G7 average of 11.3%.

It argues that the UK should be in the top quartile of OECD countries for patient access to new medicines and vaccines by 2022. UK patient access is said to be poor in comparison to similar nations.

In the year following launch, patients in France and Germany are around five times more likely to receive a new medicine than patients in the UK.

The officials also called for a new pharmaceutical price regulation scheme, abandonment of the newly introduced £20m budget impact threshold and implementation of the accelerated access review.

Patient outcomes should be measured through an independent assessment as part of the NHS innovation scorecard.

The industry also calls for medicines regulation in the UK to be aligned with the EU, for treaty terms that allow the UK pharmaceutical industry to freely trade medicines and pharmaceutical supplies across borders both in the EU and with third countries through free trade agreements.

It also calls for the industry to be able to recruit the best research talent available worldwide.

The Association of British Healthcare Industries has also published a set of policy recommendations for a new government designed to increase patient access

Reflection

What is the likelihood of a new government meeting at least some of the ABPI’s demands? What election outcome do you think would be most favourable to patient care and to the industry’s prospects?